Journal 8: Stylistic Choices In Quotes

1. Confidant
"Ah don't want tuh go. Ah always did want tuh git round uh whole heap, but Jody wouldn't 'low me tuh. When Ah wasn't in de store he wanted me tuh jes sit wid folded hands and sit dere." (112).


In this quote, Janie is explaining her situation to Pheoby. With the exception of Pheoby, Janie rarely expressed her thoughts and emotions through dialog. Hurston expressed Janie's thoughts through the use of third person narrative, which reduced her relationships between characters since she really only exposed her true thoughts to Pheoby. In this particular quote, Pheoby has just addressed the local concern that Tea Cake was changing her nature, but Janie explains this was always her nature, Jody just suppressed it.

2. Diction
"Ah'd git dat ship out from under him so slick till he'd be walkin' de water lak ole Peter befo' he knowed it." (101).

In the quote above, Hurston uses diction to create a vivid image through the use of a simile. Hurston chose to use the word "slick" rather than the synonymous quick, fast, suddenly, etc. The use of the word slick characterizes Tea Cake to a certain extent and also creates a setting through language. The quote above is stated by Tea Cake to Janie. He previously asked Janie if she would prefer a train or a ship, and she asked how he would acquire  either. He said all ship captains were old, and it would be easy to take the ship from them if it made her happy.

3. Syntax
"Fishin'? Dis time uh night?" (102).

In the above quote, Hurston uses a simple sentence in dialog between Janie and Tea Cake. Hurston chose simple sentences in almost all the dialog in the novel, primarily to highlight the simplicity of the characters. It is important to note that when she writes in narrative, her sentences become complex; unlike authors such as Hemingway, Hurston herself does not write in simple sentences, only her characters. The simplicity of the dialog may lead a reader to think the character is unintelligent, however the simple sentence structure may be a part of the dialect. The quote above is taken out of the context of Tea Cake asking Janie to go fishing in the middle of the night after dinner. Janie accepts and this further concerns her surrounding characters, namely Hezekiah and Pheoby.